The present invention is directed to stoves, free standing fireplaces and fireplace inserts for burning wood and similar combustible materials. More particularly, the present invention is directed to these types of heating units which may be used by themselves as convection or hot air heaters, or as supplementary heaters to an existing hot air or hot water heating system.
Wood burning stoves and fireplaces are well known in the prior art. However, today most residences and other buildings are heated by a hot air or hot water system by the combustion of gas, oil or coal. There is also a substantial use of electrical convection heating. The cost of present day conventional fuels such as gas, oil and coal has risen dramatically. The cost of electricity has also increased dramatically. There has been a need to produce an efficient controllable wood burning stove which may be used to substantially reduce the reliance on gas, oil, coal and electricity as a source of heat. In many parts of the country, wood is available at reasonable costs, and not infrequently at no substantial cost.